


More comfortable

by Dusklatte



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Blood and Violence, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Dancing, Dancing is mentioned quite a bit, Declarations of War, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Friends/sparring partners to lovers, Grief/Mourning, Life-changing injury, Major Character Injury, No romance until post-timeskip, Poor felix just trying to deal with his emotions, Rating May Change, Reunions, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-01-18 16:56:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21280100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dusklatte/pseuds/Dusklatte
Summary: "I'll always be more comfortable holding a sword than a woman’s hand.”Byleth could hear Sothis sigh in her head at Felix's typical stubborn words.“He says that, but he always seems to hesitate letting go of your hand when you inevitably beat him when you both spar, and you assist him up from the ground...”
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 16
Kudos: 172





	1. Participation

**Author's Note:**

> This was kinda inspired by the fact that Felix ever so gracefully shuts you down at the goddess tower.

“I'll always be more comfortable holding a sword than a woman’s hand.”

Byleth could hear Sothis sigh in her head at Felix's typical stubborn words.

“_He says that, but he always seems to hesitate letting go of your hand when you inevitably beat him when you both spar, and you assist him up from the ground...”_

From the corner of her eye, she could see the impish goddess hovering over her, casting a slight glare in Felix's direction.

“_You also enjoy when he struggles to release your hand, do you not? You do not experience many emotions, but even I can tell when you are happy and comfortable. He is the most like you of anyone here... He lives by the sword, and will most likely die by the sword too.”_

Knowing that Sothis was very much trying to toy with the few emotions which she could feel, Byleth shrugged off her words as Felix spoke once more, clearly intending to leave the tower once he said his piece.

“Try not to catch a cold up here. I'd hate for such a good sparring partner to be out of commission.” He hesitated briefly, before saying one last word. “Goodbye.”

As he began to make his way towards the stairs, Byleth remembered some of the instructions she had been given before the ball. Seteth had been certain to drill them into her mind.

_Students may leave the ball to go to the courtyard outside the classrooms for some fresh air, or their own rooms. They require a teacher chaperone if they desire to go elsewhere. The Goddess Tower and the rooms of other students are off limits._

“Felix, wait.” Byleth had put on her stern teacher voice, before approaching her student who was now stood by the top of the stairs, back turned to her. “I understand that you may not have wanted to remain at the stuffy ball, but why did you decide to come here? You are aware that the Goddess Tower is off limits, right? Rules dictate that I _should _be giving you a detention and excluding you from the class mission tomorrow.”

“I came here _because _it is off limits. Far too noisy at the ball, and Sylvain keeps trying to get me to dance with girls I don’t care about.” Felix then laughed. “You should know all about being made to dance with people when you don’t want to dance at all, Professor. I saw the horror on your face when Claude dragged you out to dance before shoving you at the boar.”

She had to admit... Felix _was _right there. She had been insistent on not dancing, yet Claude had been able to sneak up on her and pulled her out... That had started a chain reaction of people wanting to dance with her. Dimitri, Sylvain, Ashe, Lorenz, Ferdinand... Even Edelgard and Mercedes started dancing with her at some point. But dancing proved to be one of her worst nightmares, being in the spotlight as she was.

“You are right, but doesn’t change the fact that you broke the rules for this peace.” Byleth then tapped her foot for a moment, which is when Felix turned to face her. “Perhaps I may forget that I saw you here if you grant me the opportunity to dance with you.”

Felix's typical calm demeanour shattered at her words. “What?!” His eyes were wide, but his hands were shifting slightly. He didn’t seem to know how exactly to react to her request.

“Not just any dance though, it’s one that can only be done with a sword.”

He sighed loudly then. “Are you suggesting that we _spar_?”

“Yes. In theory, using a sword is similar to a dance... You must be careful with your footwork, know where to move your hands, and do the wrong move you will be in a heap on the ground.”

“Huh. How...” Felix couldn’t quite believe Byleth’s analogy. “Interesting.”

Byleth laughed quietly at how bothered he was at her words, but how eager he was to train with her.

Once at the training ground, a few flakes of snow began to cascade down onto the ground as Byleth retrieved two wooden swords from a rack of weapons. She tossed one over to Felix, who had been stretching his arms in preparation for their session.

“Seems like I'm going to have the advantage here... Faerghus is cold and there is snow all year round. I’m in my element, Professor.”

“Is that so? You forget that I have many years on you, Fraldarius. And I’ve had many jobs in Faerghus in the past.”

“Many years? Hah, you’re not much older than me.”

“Four years is more than enough, Felix.” Byleth found his attempts to make her confidence waver quite cute, but it would take more than that to make her lose her footing and her strength. “Now... You can hear the music in the distance, right? When this song fades, and the next one begins, we start this little dance.”

He scoffed, and shifted his leg back as he raised his sword. Byleth did something similar in preparation for the fight.

Thirty seconds later, the calm orchestral sounds from the ball faded, and with that, the sounds of wood clashing began. Felix lunged at Byleth, his teeth gritted as she calmly raised her sword to block his attack.

After that came hit after hit as she did her best to block him. He knew well that with the chill in the air and snow beginning to pick up that she couldn’t stay still for long, so he aimed to wear her out for when she did start to move.

He never expected her to suddenly parry one of his blows, and return the attack to his side.

From then on, the two remained on the move, like a game of cat and mouse. Felix was the pursuer, chasing after Byleth to disarm her and get her on the ground. Byleth was the one being chased, whilst tactfully deflecting his blows and using the thin layer of snow on the ground to her advantage as she kicked it to make his footing uneven, and know in advance where he would be heading.

“_Professor! _Fight me like a warrior, not a coward!”

Byleth swiftly turned around when Felix huffed, the wind blowing her hair around as the now heavy snow fell, their breaths coming out as white wisps of air. Music could still be heard in the background, the beat now more intense and exciting than previously.

“I am fighting as a warrior. You forget that not all combat is done face to face, and there are times where your opponent may be toying with you, to get you out of your comfort zone.”

“What do you-?!” Before Felix could finish asking his question, Byleth had swiped at him. His sword crashed in the deep layer of snow nearby, before he found her own sword pointed under his chin. “Ugh. Fine, I get it... I yield.”

Byleth laughed quietly as she lowered her sword, and tossing it aside. She began to walk past Felix, and in the process, rested her hand on his shoulder. “See you at the abandoned chapel with the rest of the class tomorrow.”

  


* * *

  


Felix had been stunned when he and the other Blue Lions arrived at the abandoned chapel with their Professor and Jeralt. There were at least five demonic beasts, and they were actively trying to kill dozens of unarmed students.

He scoffed at those students for getting into that situation by going somewhere off limits, but he knew the hypocrisy of him thinking that. He was only fortunate that he was somewhere which wasn't abandoned, and that Byleth had seen him there.

From his position from near the front of the class, with Byleth, Dedue, Dimitri and Ashe alongside him, he could see the other class members who were hanging back with Jeralt to deal with the beasts closer to Garreg Mach. Sylvain was beyond agitated – no surprise following the Miklan situation a few months back – but perhaps the most serious looking of everyone there aside from the Blade Breaker himself.

He still intended to spar with his professor's father one day. He _had_ to train with the one who had taught his favourite and strongest sparring partner.

“They... they’re spitting out fire. You all are well equipped to heal with any wounds inflicted by that, right?” Byleth turned to face her group, her face stern and serious. “If necessary I have spare vulneraries. I also can heal you all if needed.” She then looked between Dimitri and Felix. “Do _not _hesitate to fall back if wounded. I can trust Ashe and Dedue to do so, but not so much you two. I will cover you whilst you heal, so please, keep an eye on your health.”

With minutes, everyone was trapped in the throes of battle. Byleth was doing her best to keep on top of anything. Dedue would guard often, but land brutal hits when a weak point couldn’t be found. Dimitri and his lance provided reach which others didn’t have, whilst Ashe was attacking any smaller enemies and escorting the scared students off the battlefield. That left Felix with exploiting any open weaknesses with his sword, his speed allowing him to attack often and avoid attacks aimed at him.

He hadn’t been expecting to be lashed out at by one of the beasts, leaving a deep wound in the arm which he used a sword with. It stung, there was a lot of blood, and he could see his flesh was also singed in places.

For once, Felix was fearful. Glenn had lost his life by ending up in a deadly situation. His father’s only words were “_He died like a true knight.” _And now, Felix feared that the blood loss which was already having an impact on his body, making his limbs feel weak and his head fuzzy...

Ashe’s voice sounded like an annoying buzzing in his ear. “Professor! You need to heal Felix!”

But the blood loss... if it killed him... what nonsense would his father spout?

“Crap, Felix, don’t move okay?!” The panic in the professor’s voice caused his head pain. It was almost like a drilling noise.

_And since when did he end up on the ground?_

A soothing pain began to take over the soreness in his arm, but didn’t stop the throbbing of his veins and the sweat which was pouring from his forehead. A much preferable pain too, in combination with the warmth it provided.

_It made him just want to... sleep..._

“Felix? Felix! Don’t close your eyes, Felix!”


	2. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the battle at the Abandoned Chapel is worse for some more than others. None more so than Byleth and Felix.

Following on from the battle at the abandoned chapel, there atmosphere in Garreg Mach was both tense and solemn. At least four students had died, for they had been the ones who became the demonic beasts that the Blue Lions fought. In addition to that, many students had decided that things were going too far and becoming too dangerous – the student populace had dropped by almost a third in the space of a week.

In addition to that, it had been noticeable that Byleth was running herself down to the ground. She had been told to take time to mourn following Jeralt being killed during the previous mission, but she knew that sitting around not doing anything would make the loss hurt even more. That, and she felt fully responsible for the injuries inflicted to her students, in particular Felix – who had been sleeping in the infirmary ever since the battle.

“Professor, what are you doing-?!” Dimitri had tried to stand in the way of Byleth as she walked around, supplies filling her arms. It took a few moments for the house leader to realise what she was carrying, as he had been caught by surprise at the dark rings around her eyes, and clear tear-stains down her face. “This is for Felix, isn’t it…?”

“His… burns are bad… I don’t want to see somebody else who actually means something to me to- to be...” Byleth’s arms were shaking as she tried to hold the different medicinal herbs from the greenhouse and other elixirs from the storehouse. With a slight shake of his head, Dimitri took hold of the glass bottles, knowing that though he was likely to smash them if he wasn’t careful, Byleth’s trembling would be even more likely to cause damage. “Dimitri-”

“Allow me to help you, Professor… Besides, I have something which I must tell you. Come on, let us walk to the infirmary.” Slowly, the pair walked at the pace Byleth had originally been going at, and Dimitri continued speaking. “After what happened at the Abandoned Chapel, Lady Rhea contacted Felix’s father – Lord Rodrigue, he was here at Garreg Mach a few moons back – to inform him of what happened.”

“… And I assume I will be made to answer for what happened to Felix?”

“What?! No, Professor! You saved his life!”

“It didn’t change the fact that I was the one in charge. I was the one responsible for keeping all of you safe, but I failed.”

All that Dimitri wanted to do was to rebuke the points that she was making, but he knew that no matter what he would do, it wouldn’t make her change her viewpoint – the events were still so fresh in her mind, it would be a surprise if she had the chance to look at it with a different perspective. So he remained silent, a deep frown on his face to indicate that he was unhappy with her manner of thinking.

Their footsteps could be heard echoing around the hallways of Garreg Mach until they reached the infirmary. That was when Byleth stopped, and took back what Dimitri had been holding for her. “… You don’t want to see… But… Thank you for the help, Dimitri...” She whispered, not giving him a chance to respond as she slipped inside the room.

From the brief moment the door was open, the horribly familiar scents of death and medicine reached Dimitri’s nose, making his face scrunch up before he left. As much as he wished to see his childhood friend, he knew that he would have to trust Byleth when she said that he wouldn’t want to see what was in there.

However, Byleth was steadily growing used to the smells of the infirmary. Fortunately, the scent of death was slowly fading, and the ointments being used on Felix’s burns were beginning to take over. What she was not expecting inside the room, however, was Felix’s father sat beside the bed which he was lying in.

“… Good morning, Professor. I see that Lady Rhea was right when she said that you were taking care of Felix and his wounds.” Rodrigue stood up after speaking, noticing that Byleth was hesitating in her eye contact. “I must thank you for being there for him… Especially considering your own circumstances. My condolences, by the way. Jeralt was a good man, and an even greater knight and mercenary.”

“… Thank you. And...” Byleth carefully placed down what she was holding onto a cabinet, knowing that Manuela would be needing them later. “You speak as though you aren’t angry at me for allowing those injuries to happen under my watch.”

Rodrigue raised an eyebrow, and shook his head. “No, I see no reason to be angry at you. The only ones to blame for the events of what happened are the ones who caused those demonic beasts to appear in the first place… That Monica von Ochs and her allies.” There was a tense silence in the air after the mention of Monica, as Byleth clenched her fists and trembled slightly. “Felix handled himself in a way that a knight would be proud of – protecting those he needed to protect, in particular Prince Dimitri. When he pulls through, he should be proud of what he has done… Though he may not see it as such.”

Once more, there was silence. Until Rodrigue surprisingly smiled at her, and placed a hand on her shoulder as he walked past her. “Take good care of my son. He looks up to you, and no doubt he will appreciate all that you are doing for him. I will leave you both be now, as I need to discuss something with Lady Rhea and Seteth.”

And so, Byleth was left alone in the infirmary with the sleeping Felix.

Once Felix was no longer in critical condition after being brought to the infirmary straight after the battle, Manuela had left Byleth in charge of some of the minor healing of his wounds. Every day, she would come in to change his bandages, clean off his burns, apply medicine, then bandage him up again. It was fortunate that it was only his arm that he needed to do this with, and not anything else.

Silently, she sat down beside him, where Rodrigue had previously been sat, before carefully beginning to remove the bandage. She bit her lip slightly when she saw Felix tense up at the wound’s exposure to the air.

What saddened her though, was what she had been told by Manuela when she first saw the wound.

“_He will be lucky to even use his arm properly again… At the very least, he won’t be able to use a sword without some awfully intense therapy… If at all.”_

Byleth had to stop her eyes from welling up as she tended to his wound, not even realising in the process that his eyes had opened ever so slightly, and he was trying to watch what she was doing.

“I’m so sorry, Felix...” She finally closed her eyes as she finished with the bandages, and began to dig her fingers into her thighs. “It’s my fault that this happened… My strategy for that battle, and now… Now you will never be able to… Damn it…”

“Never be… able to… _what_, Professor…?”

“F- Felix?!”


	3. Learning the hard way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix decides that it may be worth learning to use magic.

“_You are concerned for the boy... I understand that you are not wishing to let him join your father, I truly do, but there is a point where you must stop. You are neglecting yourself. You must care for yourself before you think about caring for others!”_

Byleth clenched her fists as she felt Sothis' presence behind her, as she travelled to the training grounds.

It was almost completely dark outside, at the point where dusk turned to night, so she had been assuring herself that she would be alone as she trained to make herself stronger, to prevent such a thing from happening again. She _never _wanted anyone to get injured, especially not her students... But she had allowed it to happen, and now Felix was wounded. He wouldn’t be able to use a sword properly again.

“_Again with you hating yourself! It was inevitable! Just as what happened with your father, no matter what you did, the child could not escape that attack... You must accept things as they are...”_

“Shut up, Sothis. Leave me to train in peace...”

“..._Fine. But do not say that I did not warn you.”_

Byleth felt somewhat relieved as she felt Sothis disappear, allowing her to continue on to the training grounds in relative peace. However, the peace was disturbed as she reached the large doors leading to her destination.

There was what sounded like a crash of lightning, muffled shouting, before some words became audible.

“Damn it, you’re meant to be the one of us who happens to be relatively _decent _at using magic! Not the one who tries to destroy the training grounds with said magic!”

“Hey hey hey, calm down! I was not expecting you to be able to use magic in the first place, so excuse my shock!”

“Look, can you help me or not? I don’t want to spend my days doing nothing, I need to have _some _use here, or what even is the point of being at the academy?!”

There was some quiet mumbling then, so Byleth silently slipped into the training grounds to see what was going on. She managed to catch sight of red hair on one of the people, so she straight away knew that it had to be Sylvain. She then frowned as she knew that other than girls from the local villages, there were three people that Sylvain would be with... Dimitri, Ingrid... or Felix.

“Look, I get that you hate being cooped up, but listen to me! You have to take care of yourself before you throw yourself into training again – magic can be pretty damn draining to use. You shouldn’t even be out of bed yet, and no doubt the Professor will stress herself out even more looking for you when she realises you aren’t there, Felix.”

As soon as Byleth’s suspicions were confirmed, she stepped out and cleared her throat. “... What’s going on here?”

Sylvain tensed up, and turned to face her as he laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his face. Felix just rolled his eyes and rested his arm which wasn’t heavily bandaged against his hip.

“Aha, Professor... I- I guess you’re here looking to get this one back into bed? Y-yep, I was just doing that when I saw him here...” Sylvain then rested his hand on Felix’s shoulder, making him quietly wince before taking a step back.

Byleth raised an eyebrow, and shook her head. “Don’t lie, Sylvain… I overheard most of what you said after the crashing before,” she began, before turning to face Felix. “You really shouldn’t be here, Felix… Manuela did say that you needed at least another few days of rest before you start moving about again, you’re still weak after what happened...”

“You shouldn’t be here either, Professor. According to Sylvain and the Boar you’ve been pushing yourself too much since that battle.” Felix walked over to Byleth, a slight uneasiness in his step. “Shouldn’t _you _also be in bed?”

By this point, Sylvain decided that it would perhaps be best to leave the pair alone, as he could already feel the tension in the air – though perhaps it was the tiredness of the two which was causing some of that. No matter the reason though, he slipped out, knowing that it would probably be best to let them deal with what was going on on their own.

Byleth bit her lip, and shook her head. “There are quite a few reasons why I am awake, why I can’t sleep… One is you, and as your professor and friend, I can’t help but worry… The other main reason though… Did you hear about what else happened at the chapel?”

“Can’t say that I have.”

“If I show you… Will you return to the infirmary to rest?”

Felix was silent for a moment, before sighing. “Fine, I’ll rest as long as you do. Can’t be having a hypocrite of a Professor, can I?”

A small smirk formed on Byleth’s face, before it very quickly faded away when she remembered where they would be going. Not letting him see the small tears forming in the corner of her eyes, she turned around, gestured for him to follow her, before walking towards the door.

As the two slowly walked, similar to the day where they had a practice swordfight on the night of the ball, a few flakes of snow began to fall around them. Byleth found it a relaxing distraction, hearing the light crunch of snow under her boots. Felix found it annoying, as he was still quite weak after the battle, so he eventually had to use his unbandaged arm to grab hold of Byleth to keep himself upright as they walked.

There was a slight break from the snow as they got to the small hallway at the northernmost part of the monastery building, but once back outside, Felix stopped and dug his fingers into Byleth’s arm. “Professor… I know what’s this way,” he muttered, before making her turn around to face him. “Who was it?”

Byleth looked down at her feet, and her fists slowly clenched. “It… it was...” For was was the first time in the many months he had known her, Felix saw tears slipping down Byleth’s face. “I would rather show you...”

Already Felix was worried. If it was enough to get her to _cry_, it must have been bad. There were very few people he had seen her bare her emotions near, and a vast majority were his fellow Blue Lions. Despite this, he continued following her as she led him to the graveyard.

There was clearly one grave with freshly moved soil, with flowers and candles in front of the headstone. Byleth stopped just in front of it, and sank down to her knees, the tears coming almost uncontrollably then.

Slowly, Felix stepped forward and wiped the bit of snow which covered the names on the grave, before he tensed up when he realised what it said.

“No… That can’t be right...” Felix then turned to face Byleth with his eyes widened. “Jeralt…?”

“Stabbed after the battle… A- And I couldn’t save him...” Her fingers dug into the earth as she tilted her head upwards. “He _died _in my arms… And the only thing I could do to keep myself sane was to keep you alive too.”

The two were mostly in silence after that, the only noises being the quiet sniffling from Byleth as she tried to stem the tears slipping down her face. Felix, however, was in a stunned silence – he remembered before that battle promising himself that he would one day be challenging Jeralt to a sparring match to see if he lived up to the high standards Byleth had set. Now that could never happen – even if Jeralt was still alive, he remembered the words he had been told as clear as day… _‘You likely won’t be able to use a sword again.’_

After a short while, Felix saw that Byleth was now standing up once more and turned to face him, her eyes slightly reddened still. “Come on… We should leave now…”

“… If you say so, Professor.”

So, the two left the graveyard much slower than they had arrived, and made their way up to the second floor to the infirmary where Felix was supposed to be resting. Once there, Byleth had an absent look on her face as Felix sat down on the bed, before looking at the bandages on his arm for a few minutes.

Then, Felix sighed. “Pro- Byleth. Are you going to just stand there like a fool or lie down too? You did say that you would if I went with you to the graveyard.”

Byleth blinked a few times, shocked at the use of her name to get her attention, before slowly shaking her head. “I shouldn’t… Not here, anyway.”

“How do I know that if you leave that you won’t just return to the training grounds?”

“You won’t.”

“Exactly. Now lie down. The beds are big enough for two, maybe even three people to lie on. I don’t care if you don’t sleep or anything, but I want to make sure that you don’t do anything reckless. I’d hate for a...” Felix felt himself slipping in his usual ‘I’d hate for a good sparring partner to be out of commission’ line, but he stopped when he knew that he was out of commission himself. So, he decided to rephrase. “I’d hate for you to do anything which could cause you any more hurt than you have been feeling...”

Slowly, he reached out for her hand, and pulled her towards the bed. Once he had gotten her to sit down, he sighed and lay down on the far side of the bed. “Please, Professor… You’ve done a lot for me since I’ve been injured. You should at least do something for yourself and rest.”

Byleth was silent for a few moments, doing her best not to indicate to Felix that she was currently being lectured by Sothis to listen to him. “I… Fine, I will...” She then lay down on her back, and started to gaze up at the ceiling. “These past few weeks have been… horrible. But knowing that you are on the mend… it is reassuring.”

“I’m hoping to be back in classes by my birthday next month. I’d rather spend my time learning how to use magic if I can’t use a weapon than being stuck in bed reading sympathetic cards and being forced to eat an unnatural amount of cake by Lysithea and Annette,” Felix muttered, wanting to change the topic of their current conversation into something a little less heavy than it had been since they saw each other at the training grounds.

“The library is on this floor… In the morning I could get some books together about magic if you wanted. Having the ability to use magic is one thing, but knowledge of it can make it a lot stronger.”

“… Sounds good.” He then lay on his side, and yawned slightly. “Speaking of good… Good night, Professor.”

“G’night, Felix...”

After a few minutes of staring at a wall, Felix heard the light breathing of Byleth, and turned back slightly just to see her asleep. That was enough to bring a smile to his face as he drifted off to sleep himself.


	4. Impatience and absence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix is the only Blue Lion present in Garreg Mach, and he doesn't know why.

“Ah, finally... Felix, perhaps you can answer my question.”

It was mid-afternoon, and at present, Felix was on his way to the library from his room. He had finally been allowed to return to his own room, and to roam around the monastery. However, he was not permitted to return to classes or participate in missions, which had led to him doing as Byleth had previously suggested, and learning about magic in his own time.

He hadn’t been expecting anyone to be about though, as his class had no mission for this month to allow Byleth time to mourn, and the Black Eagles and Golden Deer had been sent off on their own.

Hubert silently appearing behind him had been enough to stun him.

“Ugh... What do you want, you creep?” Felix turned around with a scowl on his face, doing his best to keep hold of the books on magic which he had been reading the previous night under his good arm. “Aren’t you meant to be off doing whatever you Black Eagles have been asked to do?”

A sly smirk formed on Hubert's face. “Well, I was going to ask if you happened to know where your Professor is, as your classroom is empty, but I happen to have as new question now... What has brought a sword-swinging brute such as yourself to learning the intellectual art of magic?” His eyes were on the books which Felix was holding, a particular interest in the book on dark magic.

“Are you blind or something? I can’t even _hold _a weapon at the moment. Magic is my only option,” Felix grumbled in response, doing his best to hold up his bad arm. “As for my class, I don’t know. I’m excluded from classes for the time being because of my injury. Why does it even matter where the Professor is, anyway? She’s not your Professor.”

“Lady Edelgard wishes to speak with her.”

“_Of course she does...” _

Before Hubert could retaliate in response to Felix’s remark though, the pair began to hear footsteps heading towards them, and eventually, Ferdinand appeared.

Felix couldn’t help but smirk at the choice words which Hubert had regarding his classmate's appearance, but that stopped when he realised that Ferdinand seemed particularly serious.

“Finally, I have found you, Hubert! There is an emergency, and Seteth has summoned all capable students to the entrance hall-” Ferdinand stopped as soon as he saw Felix, and his brow furrowed. “Oh… Felix, I didn’t see you there. I apologise, but I don’t think that you would be allowed to join us… You weren’t even allowed to go with your own classmates, after all...” Ferdinand then turned around, and began to run away. “Come, Hubert! We still need to find Edelgard.”

In a stunned silence, Felix watched as the two left, his books falling down onto the ground with a heavy thud. His class had gone off without him, and now students who were ‘capable’ were being called to an emergency?

_Ferdinand could’ve just said that everybody except him were called. It was more than obvious that he was the only student who couldn’t fight._

With a frown, he decided to see what exactly was going on for Seteth to have summoned the Black Eagles and Golden Deer to a gathering.

Not after reclaiming the books, however, they were the only available books on dark magic which hadn’t been confiscated after the whole Remire Village incident of a few months back.

  
  


* * *

* * *

  
  


“If you are all unaware, I shall keep the story brief. As you may be aware, the Blue Lions, as well as the likes of your professors, and… Flayn...” From where he was stood behind a pillar, Felix could picture the hesitance and concern on Seteth’s face. “They have all gone to the nearby Sealed Forest with Lady Rhea’s permission to eliminate those who were responsible for the death of Sir Jeralt. We are assured that this is not them acting in revenge, but rather to prevent our thinly spread knights from being spread even further.”

There was a tense silence filling the hall, and already, Felix could feel his heart racing, and his chest… it… _hurt? _He was hoping that Seteth wasn’t building up to give some form of horrible news. The worst couldn’t have happened to his class… After all, they had the Boar Prince, and they certainly couldn’t die when with the Professor!

“So… Why have we been called? Has something happened?” Edelgard’s voice breaking the silence eased his worries, and he began to nod silently along.

“Rather than explain, it may be easier to show you. Step outside, and look into the direction of the Sealed Forest.”

Echoes of shoes and boots against the marbled floor echoed around the room, and Felix remained still. He would be sent away if Seteth were to see him there, so he had to remain where he was. As he did stay hidden though, he suddenly locked eyes with Claude.

The Golden Deer house leader was _obviously _going to be the person who caught sight of him, he was constantly analysing what was going on. Much to Felix’s relief, Claude nodded and continued walking with the other students to see what Seteth was talking about.

“The sky is like the night… But it is not the night. What is… happening?”

“We believe that the Blue Lions may be in danger, as even we are unsure of what is going on. And the only available people to provide assistance are you all. I have been ordered to remain behind at Garreg Mach by Lady Rhea, so you are our only hope to assure that they all return safely...”

After a few moments of deliberations between the students, the two classes decided that they would provide assistance. Felix was surprised that they all managed to stay so calm in this situation, but then again, he had seen Edelgard and Claude act calmly and level-headed before now. They likely persuaded their classmates in that sort of manner. Unlike a _certain _reckless prince…

“Thank you… Please, return safely, all of you. May the Goddess watch over you all...” Seteth sounded almost as though he was going to cry with relief when everyone went off to get ready. Then, he cleared his throat and spoke once more. “How much did you overhear, Mister Fraldarius?”

Felix stepped out with a groan. “All of it. And just so you know, you aren’t stopping me from going along.”

“I am afraid… that we cannot allow that. We have been asked by Lord Rodrigue to not allow you to leave the monastery until you have been cleared by Professor Manuela as having recovered enough.”

“My old man isn’t going to stop me-”

“Your Professor also asked the same before she left with the rest of your class.”

And that… was a much harder request to ignore.

  
  


* * *

* * *

  
  


It was late at night when Felix was sat by the steps leading to the marketplace that the gates to Garreg Mach began to open. The Gatekeeper had been… tolerable company for all the hours he had to wait. He happened to have stories of strong warriors who had visited the monastery over the years, and of the most powerful graduates of the Officer’s Academy. Unfortunately, Glenn happened to be included in that list.

Silently, Felix stood up when the students began to emerge. It was obvious that those who had horses, wyverns, and pegasi had ridden ahead, as there was nobody on foot who had arrived. Amongst those who had appeared, there was Ingrid and Sylvain. They had whispered something to one another as they dismounted, before Ingrid trusted Sylvain with her pegasi as she walked over to him.

“Felix...” Now that Ingrid was closer to him, he could see the variety of magic-based injuries and bruises which were on her hands and face. If Sylvain and the other Blue Lions had similar injuries, then presumably their fight would have been… brutal, for lack of other words. “I… I just want to say… The Professor is fine, and simply needs to rest… She just… may not be in a state suitable to talk to when she returns. Nor may she be as she was this morning...”

“What do you mean, Ingrid? What happened out there?!”

“It is hard to explain… But all I can say is that His Highness is having to carry her back, and… Well, it may be easier to see what is going on rather than say.”

So, Felix had to wait for even longer. He had hated that Ingrid hadn’t been direct with him, and that Sylvain was just as avoidant of his questions. As had everyone else who had arrived by that point.

Then… He saw it.


	5. Catching up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once the Pegasus Moon arrives, Felix is able to return to lessons - though his time out because of his injury means that he has fallen behind his classmates.

“Are you sure that you should be back in classes yet, Felix…? Your arm is still covered in bandages...”

“I’m fine, Mercedes. I’ve been cleared by Professor Manuela to return to classes as long as I don’t pick up a weapon. So I’ll be using magic.”

Mercedes frowned as she saw Felix then attempt to pick up a pen with his injured arm, but was unable to keep his grasp of it. It clattered down onto the desk, which made him groan and pick it up with his other hand. He attempted to write the date down on a piece of paper in front of him, and fortunately, it was just about readable. That would do for him, though Mercedes felt otherwise – she was close to asking whether he wanted to take notes down for the both of them, and provide him with a copy after the day’s lessons.

After that, more members of the Blue Lions entered the classroom, each of them bearing their own injuries from the battle a week prior. They were all minor however, and were mostly just fading bruises and healing cuts.

What grated on Felix’s nerves though, was that some of them were acting as though their injuries were badges of honour, and showing them off as they bragged about how they had defeated those who massacred Remire Village and killed Jeralt. He didn’t like that they felt the need to brag – he certainly wasn’t bragging about the fact that he had almost been killed trying to save a group of reckless students who had entered an off-limits area.

And thinking about the injury… Really made it twinge. He didn’t know if it was just because he was thinking about it so much, but the sensation was annoying.

Just to ease the frustrating feeling, he carefully began to remove the bandages. Manuela had told him that he could remove them whenever he wanted, so long as he made sure to keep the healing wounds clean and didn’t plan on picking up a weapon.

“Oh crap...” He hadn’t been expecting Sylvain to suddenly appear to his side, and worm his way between him and Mercedes at the desk. “That looks like it hurts.”

Felix could only groan as his friend kept his eyes fixated on his arm, in particular where the pink-ish scars from burns covered his skin, and the pale scars alongside deep-looking cuts from where the demonic beast had swiped at him. “I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt. Just numb,” he muttered, his statement being a lie. He wasn’t completely fine. And it _did _hurt, but was more of a stinging sensation alongside the now-subsiding urge to itch.

“But still… That looks a lot worse than anything the rest of us have from last week-”

“Injuries aren’t a competition, Sylvain… If he says that he is fine, and that it doesn’t hurt, let’s just leave it at that.” The classroom fell silent when the familiar voice came from behind, followed by the extremely familiar sound of boots across the classroom floor. “Now, can everyone take their seats. It’s the first lesson we are having in a few weeks, so I may have to take things a bit slower than usual...”

“Professor! You're back!”

  
  


* * *

* * *

  
  


“And I believe that just about covers it…” Byleth trailed off when she placed the chalk which she was using down, and fell silent for a moment. “Class is dismissed… Though can you stay behind, Felix? I need to talk to you about something...”

As everyone began to pack up and leave, Byleth sat herself down at her desk and closed her eyes. Felix frowned at how distant she was acting, so rather than staying at his desk and waiting for her to speak, he approached her desk and placed his hand down on it.

“Professor. What are you wanting to talk about?”

Her eyes opened slightly, and it was at that moment that he noticed that she had changed in ways other than her hair… her eyes were a similar minty shade of green to hair. Afterwards, she straightened up, before sighing and resting her hands on the old wood of the desk.

“I… saw that you were struggling a bit today. You didn’t seem to be picking up some of the things we were covering and were asking Mercedes and Sylvain for help quite a bit.”

“Well it doesn’t help that it’s hard to concentrate because of your professor looking _completely different, _but acting like nothing has changed-”

“Nothing has changed, Felix. Or at least… I’m trying to act as though nothing has changed. Of anything, normality is what is needed after everything which has happened over the past few months...” She then stood up, but not after resting her hand on a small stack of books which was on her desk. “Which brings me on to what I wanted to talk to you about…”

Felix raised an eyebrow as he rested his hand on his hip, staring directly into her eyes. “Then go on. What are you wanting to talk about?”

“Your injury has kept you out of lessons for over a month, and as such, you have missed out on some important concepts. That, and you will have to cover some earlier content from the beginning of the year due to your change in battle speciality… Battle strategy for using swords is quite different to that for when you are using magic.”

He then sighed, and used the hand which was on his hip to run through his hair. “So basically, I’ve got to catch up. I’m falling behind.”

“Put simply… yes. So I want to know if you would be willing to set aside an hour or two after lessons each day for the next week or so, just so we can cover the content. As it will only be you, we can cover the topics quickly. Once you have covered it all, you should be permitted to join the rest of the class in battles and the mission at the end of the month… Are you okay with that?”

“Yeah, I’m fine with that. Anything to not have to get Sylvain to explain things with him using women as analogies...”

* * *

* * *

As each day went by, Felix covered more and more content, and became familiar with concepts he had missed out on whilst he had been out of lessons. He also appreciated that Byleth didn’t give him exams or essays based on the topics covered – instead, she had just been quizzing him after explaining, and showed him what his classmates had done and pointed out the strengths and mistakes which they had made.

He also appreciated that she would give him time to get his head around things – even as far as allowing him to look over relevant books and documents as he noted down questions which he had whilst she left the classroom, and returned with drinks of tea and snacks to eat as she provided him with answers.

She also would often push desks aside in the classroom, and ask for him to give demonstrations of techniques he had learned. She had been quite high in praise on as to how quickly he was picking up magic – in particular with magic in the family of thunder spells.

After two weeks, everything which needed to be covered had been touched upon, and Felix was up to date.

“And that… finishes that.” Byleth had a tired smile on her face as she closed the book which was open on Felix’s desk. “We’ve covered everything that you have missed out on – and you’re starting to understand what we are covering in normal lessons just as well as everyone else… If not a bit better. It’s certainly showing that some people’s study habits are… lacking.”

“You can just say the boar, you know. He’s getting more unhinged as the days go by...”

Byleth raised an eyebrow, but eventually shook her head, knowing that even if she had asked Felix not to call the prince a ‘boar’, it would likely never happen. She then gathered the books together, went over to her desk, before picking something up from behind it.

“Before you leave… There is something which I need to give you.” She then returned to his desk, and placed the box she had picked up in front of him. “Let’s just say… that not every sword needs to be swung. Happy birthday, Felix.”

Confusion crept onto Felix’s face as he used his arm to pull the box closer to him, before pulling the lid off to see what her confusing description was talking about. His eyes widened when he saw the contents.

“That is...”

“A Levin Sword… extremely rare, almost never sold, but I managed to get hold of one by jumping through many hoops for my favourite student’s birthday. As I said, not every sword needs to be swung. Not if it uses magic...”

Felix was stunned as he used his good arm to pick up the sword. He’d heard of, and even seen these sorts of swords before this point… but it had slipped his mind completely when he had been repeatedly told that he couldn’t wield a sword again.

“Professor...” He had been stunned that she had put so much thought into the gift – earlier that day, he had just been given very basic gifts from his childhood friends, varying from unsolicited advice from Sylvain, to a well-meaning book on heroes from the past who fought with magic from Ingrid. But _this_ gift… Byleth had known that it had dragged him down massively when he was told he couldn’t use a sword, but that he could still use magic. So she had found a loophole, so that he could still use a sword, but with the magic he was training in.

“Would you want to try it out at the training grounds for old times’ sake, sparring partner?”

“Heh. Sure...”


	6. Declarations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix joins his class for his first mission in two moons.
> 
> The events in the Holy Tomb lead to a series of events that nobody was expecting.

Felix didn’t know how to feel as he joined Byleth and his fellow Blue Lion classmates down into the Holy Tomb. It was the first class mission in two moons that he had been involved in, but it wasn’t just that which was playing on his mind. This was a holy place, a place where only those who were ‘chosen’ could go.

Despite his reservations about himself and his classmates being in the tomb, he couldn’t help but keep his eyes on Byleth as she walked up the stairs towards the ancient-looking throne as Rhea urged her on. She honestly did look like a Goddess. Sylvain clearly noticed his gaze, as he nudged at his arm with a knowing grin on his face. Ingrid rolled her eyes in response to that, whilst Dimitri glared at them all.

“To think, our professor is blessed by the Goddess… It’s hard to deny after what we saw a few weeks ago…” Ingrid whispered, before turning to face Felix. “Were you told about what happened when our class pursued those who caused your injury and killed Sir Jeralt?” Felix shook his head, and so, Ingrid went to try and explain what happened.

Instead, Flayn jumped into the conversation to explain herself. “The Professor ended up pursuing the leaders of the group – Solon, the one who took the place of Tomas, and Kronya, the one who took the place of Monica. When the Professor got too close to them, however… Solon tore out Kronya’s heart, and the area they were stood fell into darkness… When it faded, the Professor was gone. Disappeared. As though she had never existed in the first place…” She trailed off, looking very upset as she recalled the events of the previous mission.

Dimitri had slowed down his pace to join in the conversation, and was the one to pick up where Flayn had left off. “Because the vile Kronya was dead, we confronted Solon, demanding to know what he did to the Professor. He spouted out nonsense about how she would be facing a fate worse than death. Before we could do anything to even apprehend or defeat him, a tear formed in the sky. The Professor had cut through the sky with her weapon, and emerged with her green hair and eyes.”

“No offence to your imagination Boar, but I doubt that she ‘cut through the sky’. That isn’t even possible.”

“It did happen, Felix… It was hard for us all to believe, but we all saw it ourselves… Even ask the Golden Deer and Black Eagles, they had arrived at that moment and witnessed it too,” Mercedes chimed in, seeming as the class had all come to a halt, and were looking up at the throne which Rhea was urging Byleth to sit upon. “I wonder what this ‘Revelation’ which Lady Rhea was speaking of is…”

A few of the Blue Lions were worried, based upon the concern on Byleth’s face as she ran her hand across the stone armrest. That led to them moving their hands to rest upon their weapons or preparing to use magic. What really unsettled some of them was Rhea’s eagerness for Byleth to sit down.

When Byleth finally did as Rhea had been asking her, they felt that their worry was for nothing, as… absolutely nothing happened. Rhea was stunned and appeared almost offended that nothing had happened.

After that, there was commotion. It had more or less happened in a matter of seconds. The tomb had gone from silent, to having a commotion, to a full-on battle against forces from the Empire who had intruded for the purposes of stealing crest stones.

To say that Felix wasn’t the most confident in his skills in combat was an understatement. Yes, he had trained up with Byleth many times over the past few weeks in a real-life battle scenario, and he was, in her words, excelling in his new skills. But he had never used magic in _actual _combat. He loathed to admit it, but he did feel _somewhat _scared.

What did reassure him though, was that Byleth had stepped up to lead the class, just as she normally would in a battle. Nobody had ever died in the life-or-death situations the class had ended up in under her lead – no doubt she wouldn’t allow any of the Blue Lions to die here either. She would call out her orders with confidence and belief that herself, her nine pupils, and the Archbishop would emerge victorious over this small army.

“Dedue, Sylvain, Dimitri, Ingrid – split into pairs and hold the front lines at opposite sides of the room, and avoid the beasts as best as you can! Ashe, Annette, hold back and attack from the distance, aim for the beasts if they try to attack the four leading the attack! Mercedes, Flayn, hold back and advance to heal your classmates if need be! I will be holding the centre of the room and focussing on the beasts, and will have Felix by my side. Lady Rhea… stand back if you wish, or fight alongside us. That is entirely your call.”

There was only one tiny little thing which bothered Felix about her orders. He was going to be fighting the _beasts. _Fighting against the beasts was what led to his arm injury, and he did not look upon that moment fondly. He tried to mask the concern as she approached him, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Professor… Are you serious about asking me to fight against the beasts with you? I don’t know if you remember, but the last time I fought some…” He held up his arm as best as he could as he narrowed his eyes at her, but he found himself unable to feel anger directed towards her. She had a reassuring smile on her face as she rested her hand on the hilt of the Sword of the Creator, before pointing at the closest beast to the two of them.

“There is no need to move from this position for the two of us. I chose for you to fight against the beasts with me because you have an innate talent for magic-“

“So does Annette. _And _Sylvain.”

“They do. However, the beasts are most dangerous close up. The fact that we can fight them from this distance using magic and our swords means that we will not be in danger. Magic can also help with the removal of the barriers which they put around themselves… something which we did not utilise when you were injured,” her voice sounded normal at first, but turned into an uncomfortable whisper afterwards. “You don’t have to fight them if you don’t want to, Felix. I will not hold it against you if you retreat back and stay by Lady Rhea’s side to keep her safe.”

“Hell no. I’m not letting you fight those beasts on your own!”

Byleth smiled at him as she drew her sword. “That’s the Felix I know. Now, we should aim for the same points on the monsters – it could put your classmates in danger if we go looking for a weakness, but if we can create one…”

“Then we can take them down quicker.”

For over an hour the battle raged on. The Blue Lions chipped away at the numbers of the Flame Emperor’s army one by one, until finally, it culminated in Dimitri ending up face-to-face with the Flame Emperor. Everyone was stunned when they saw the prince, usually so sensible, polite, and proper, crush the skull of an enemy with his hand alone, and destroy the mask of their enemy with his foot.

Byleth didn’t know how to react, and the tomb was completely silent as the Flame Emperor, now revealed to be Edelgard, escaped alongside Hubert. Following that, the Blue Lions regrouped, Dimitri’s eyes wide with an anger which seemed almost unnatural, and Rhea, rambling about how the ‘Evil child’ would face the wrath of the Church.

Once everyone began to leave the tomb, Felix grabbed hold of Byleth’s arm, and pulled her aside.

“Professor, I know that you tell me time and time again not to call Dimitri a ‘Boar’, but what we witnessed there, after Edelgard’s mask fell off… That is what earned him the nickname. We once fought together in a battle a few years ago, and he went about in a bloodlust-fuelled rage, killing everyone in sight. Some of our enemies were _unrecognisable _after he had killed them. I know that his crest makes him strong, but that… He was out of control. A monster. _A boar.”_

For a moment, Byleth looked at Felix, her lips slightly turned downwards. “I… see. I still do not condone use of such a nickname… But I do see why you use it,” she muttered, before gazing upward towards the orange-hued clouds as the sun began to set. “Come on… We should eat and get some rest. No doubt things will be… hectic over the coming weeks. We should rest whilst we can…”

Felix was stunned as she walked away. He hadn’t seen Byleth sound so… sad before. Even though she had cried in front of him before that point, she hadn’t ever sounded like that. _Ever._

* * *

* * *

Just as Byleth had told him, the situation in Garreg Mach grew to one of franticness and worry. Classes had gone from daily to none at all, just like that. The only instructions which the Blue Lions had received from Byleth was to train and practice their skills, and to make sure that their belongings were together for if the worst was to happen and everyone to return from their homes.

Then came the declaration of war.

On the day that Edelgard had announced her intentions, Rhea had gathered all of the students who remained in Garreg Mach together, and announced that there and then, they had graduated the academy. There were no formalities to it whatsoever. She then stated that if they wished to leave, they had two weeks to do so. If they did not leave, they would be needed to battle when the Imperial army arrived at the monastery.

The following day, letters arrived at the monastery. They would be the final letters to arrive before everyone made their decisions to leave or remain. It was noted that each of the remaining Black Eagles had received one, but there were a few addressed to others.

Felix found himself counted amongst those few, though he was the only one to receive multiple. One he could clearly tell was from his father. It was likely requesting that he consider returning home, considering his injury and the prospect of many upcoming battles. The other was more of a mystery to him.

When he opened the mystery letter, he felt stunned as he read the contents. It was a letter addressed to him from Edelgard herself, requesting his ‘assistance in liberating Fódlan from the grasp of the Church’, claiming that the entire reason he had been injured was because of ‘Rhea’s negligence’.

He knew straight away that he had to show Byleth, as the person he trusted most within the walls of Garreg Mach.

He ran everywhere that he could around the monastery attempting to find her, looking at all of her usual haunts. It wasn’t until he gave up and decided to return to his room that he realised that there was one place which he hadn’t checked – _her _room.

When he arrived, he knew that she _had _to be there – he could smell tea coming from a gap in the door, and there was candlelight through the window. He promptly knocked on, and after a moment, the door opened.

Byleth looked completely tired and run down – as though the recent events had been slowly chipping away at her. “Felix… Are you okay? Has something happened?” She did her best to smile at him, before giving up and sighing.

He frowned, and held up the folded letter. “I need to talk to you about this. Not out in the open though. Can I come in?”

She was silent for a moment, but nodded and stepped back to let him inside her room. “Go ahead. Help yourself to some tea if you wish…” She allowed him to walk inside, before pushing the door closed and turning her key to lock it. “Give me a moment to clear some space to sit down.” She then moved some sheets of paper off her bed, and took a seat.

Felix sat down beside her, and showed her the piece of paper. “I received this today. I think that the Black Eagles may have received something similar, but…” He trailed off, not really knowing how to explain the contents of the letter. Eventually, he gave up trying to read it, and handed it over to her. “Just read it.”

Byleth raised her eyebrow, but unfolded the letter anyway and began to read it. She originally had a straight face as she began to read, which steadily turned to a frown. Her eyes were narrowed as she read the final lines out loud. Her mouth was agape, before folding the paper up and glancing at him. “She is trying to recruit people from the Academy… I knew it. You aren’t going to take her up on the offer, are you?”

“No way. I may not want to follow the Boar, but I am still loyal to my home. I wouldn’t betray Faerghus for the Empire. Somebody needs to help Ingrid keep the Boar and Sylvain in line, after all,” he scoffed.

“Good… I’m glad.” she stated, before standing up and walking over to her desk. “You probably shouldn’t stay here for much longer… We can’t waste any time. We need to either be ready to fight, or ready to leave…”


	7. Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And finally, Edelgard's army marched upon Garreg Mach.

Byleth tensed up as a blur of red began to appear over the horizon. She knew that this day was coming, but it still felt far from real. Normally, her mind would be numb to these sorts of emotions, but at present, her thoughts were everywhere. Would there be a way to keep her precious students- no, knights, they had been very abruptly graduated - alive through this all? Could she protect them from harm? Would _she _make it through this battle?

“Byleth…” In the moments before she became too lost in her thoughts, a gentle hand came to rest on her shoulder, and turned her around. That was followed by a gentle stroke across her cheek. “My dear, sweet child… Please do not fret over the outcome of this battle. We have you, and your incredible powers… They do not. They shall not win.”

For a brief moment, she felt tears forming in the corners of her eyes as Rhea smiled at her, before turning to face the horizon once more so that the Archbishop could not see her wipe the tears away. “It isn’t the outcome that I’m worried about…” Her hand fell to rest against the hilt of her sword, her eyes narrowing when the silhouettes of demonic beasts began to appear in the distance. “It is the students. They have been through so much, and I do not want them to fall here after everything we have been through…”

Rhea stepped to beside Byleth, and glanced at her face to see what she was focussing on. In particular, she seemed to be looking between two students, and the battalions which had been assigned to them. “You say the students… But there are two that you have more concern for. I understand completely… His Highness has been in a dark place over recent weeks, and the Fraldarius boy is still healing from his injuries. I know you worry for them, but please do trust them. They are strong, and loyal. That shall get them through this battle. You have prepared them well.”

Byleth knew that Rhea was right, however, strength and loyalty could be influenced. She knew that it would be difficult for many of the students, as many of them had received letters in an attempt by Edelgard to recruit them. For some, it would certainly waver their confidence.

_Just as it had her, when she received such a letter. _

But Byleth needed answers, and aligning herself with the Empire to remove the Church would remove any and all opportunity she had for getting them.

* * *

* * *

It had felt like hours since the battle had begun, but in reality, it was no more than an hour. Felix was doing his best to maintain his concentration, but it was hard given the mental exhaustion which was kicking in. He had been using his magic almost non-stop, using both the Levin sword which Byleth had given him, and his other known abilities. He could tell Annette was suffering in a similar way to himself, as she was now heavily relying on Dedue to keep her safe whilst building up her strength, as she cast her weaker magic to fend off those who would harm him.

He had no such luxury – the closest of his allies to his position happened to be Dimitri, and… Well, he didn’t want to end up in the way of one of the prince’s almost beastly attacks. He just had to keep fighting, heal where he could, and hope that he would make it through the day alive.

At one point, the number of Empire soldiers surrounding him seemed to begin to thin out. He felt quite relieved, but knew that he couldn’t let his guard down just yet. There hadn’t been a signal indicating that the battle was over, so the smaller numbers was more likely a sign that something bigger was to come.

That ‘something bigger’ appeared in the form of Hubert.

“Soldiers, leave this one to me. I have… _unfinished business_ with him. Your aim is to remove the Church supporters between Lady Edelgard and the Archbishop,” the former student ordered, waving his hand nonchalantly to dismiss the few soldiers around him. That was followed by an irritated frown forming on his face as he approached Felix, who was preparing to cast his strongest magic if he dared step close enough. “Tch… Felix Hugo Fraldarius. You had so much potential, yet you ignored the ideal opportunity to harness and hone your abilities. Of all the Blue Lions that Lady Edelgard attempted to recruit, your declination hurt her the most… aside from your Professor’s, of course.”

Felix scowled. He knew exactly what Hubert was trying to do. He could also see the dagger which was mostly concealed up his sleeve, and the traces of dark magic beginning to appear around his hand. It was an attempt to make him vulnerable – to make him act rashly to either incapacitate him, or remove him for good. “Shut up… You only know how to spit venom, and you’re trying to do it again here. Any attempt to guilt-trip me into changing sides here isn’t going to happen,” he retaliated, before resting his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Clearly, that small action had been enough to rouse Hubert’s interest. “Hmm, I understand now… So that is what she was seeking the weapon out for…” With a flick of his wrist, Hubert sent a blast of dark magic in Felix’s direction, which was narrowly avoided. In response, Felix drew the sword, and sent a strong surge of electric magic back at him. “You wouldn’t have that sword if not for me. Your professor was asking many magic users a mere two moons ago if they were aware of anywhere she could legitimately obtain a Levin sword. I pulled a few… strings, and what did she know… that next weekend, a Levin sword was available at the marketplace,” me muttered, just as the exchange of attacks began to grow more persistent and aggressive. “I should have known it would have been for her favourite student.”

Felix was doing his best not to see red, but he was finding it harder and harder the more that Hubert spoke. “Quit your lying… The Professor never played favourites. She was only helping me because I was injured under her watch!”

“Or could it have been because she was sorry for you? The poor little child who was almost killed on the same night her father died… Her only way of coping with her grief being to keep you alive.”

“Shut up!” By that point, Felix had enough. And he certainly didn’t care about his injuries along his arm, and his incapability of wielding a sword properly. He grabbed a sword from a nearby body, and did his best to close his fingers around the hilt, before swinging it towards Hubert.

Unsurprisingly, the attack was deflected, and the sword promptly knocked out of his hand as he fell down to the ground. His pride was greatly wounded at the fact that his attack had been prevented by the ‘hidden’ dagger, and his eyes remained on the small blade as Hubert took a few short strides towards him, and crouched down.

“It is such a shame that things had to end this way, but this is the reality of war, Felix. People die,” Hubert muttered, moving the dagger to Felix’s throat. “And so… the Fraldarius bloodline ends-!“

Felix’s eyes widened when a lance suddenly swept above him, which had been enough to force Hubert into warping a few metres back. “Back away, you rat!” Of anyone, he hadn’t been expecting Dimitri to save him in an almost certain death situation. “If you wish to kill my friend, you have to go through me!”

“Hmph. I have no time to deal with the likes of you… This battle is nearing its conclusion, and will end with Lady Edelgard’s victory.”

Felix propped himself up with his good arm as Hubert finally warped away, before glancing at Dimitri as his hands tightened around his lance. “I had the situation dealt with, Boar! I was going to knock him off me with magic before he tried to kill me!” He managed to stand up, before having to grab hold of his other arm because of the pain which was now coursing through it.

Dimitri lowered his weapon, and shook his head. “I was acting on the Professor’s orders. If you want to question anyone about my actions, talk to her… She was worried for you,” he muttered, before approaching his friend. “Come now, we should take you to Professor Manuela or Mercedes, you have aggravated your injuries by trying to use that sword earlier.”

“But I have to-!” Felix gave a wide-eyed stare as Dimitri gestured for him to follow. “Fine.”

At that moment, Felix swore that one day, he will find Hubert again, and that he would be the one who would kill him.

It took a few minutes for the pair to reach Mercedes, who at this point, had the rest of the Blue Lions, Seteth, and Flayn accompanying her. The only exception was Byleth, who was with Rhea, according to Seteth.

What was clear was that though the battlefield was mostly clear, the battle had taken a huge toll on those who had been taking part. Annette was pale and asleep against Ashe’s shoulder, whilst he was covered in a multitude of minor injuries. Sylvain and Ingrid were both leaning against the wall with a fair share of cuts and bruises between them, the Lance of Ruin and Lúin lying on the ground by their feet. Dedue was currently being healed by Mercedes, a slash across his face fading into a scar.

Flayn gasped when she saw that Felix was holding onto his arm, and decided to take it upon herself to reverse the damage which had been done during the battle. That led to both her and Seteth lecturing him about being reckless given his pre-existing wounds.

Dimitri had sat down on a bit of rubble from a nearby destroyed house, before a frown formed on his face. “I can see Claude on the hill nearby… He seems to be struggling. Ashe, may I borrow the sword you are using?” Once the Prince had the sword in one hand, and his lance in the other, he began to walk away. “Seteth, it looks as though the Professor has started to evacuate the remaining Officer’s Academy students. Whilst I help both her and Claude, could you take my classmates to safety?”

“Of course, Prince Dimitri. I shall see you upon your return to the monastery.”

Felix felt frustrated that Dimitri was being allowed to continue fighting, especially when it was more than visible that there were more soldiers than previously emerging from the horizon, and that a majority of those who had been fighting on their side were retreating. It felt almost as though they were _surrendering. _

Once the Blue Lions had returned to the monastery, they remained by the entrance hall with the Golden Deer – all they could do was wait for their house leaders and Byleth to return. The building remained eerily silent aside from a series of loud crashes, and what sounded like demonic beasts from the ruined villages below.

Then… there was silence.

From that point onwards, they knew that there would only be two outcomes – Dimitri, Claude, and Byleth entering through the doors with news of their victory… or Edelgard, demanding their fealty.

They hadn’t been expecting it to just be Dimitri and Claude. The pair had clearly been injured to quite an extent, but the most damaged thing there was not either of the house leaders though – it was Dimitri’s lance. The weapon was broken in half and bent in a variety of places. Most of them put it down to overuse during the battles… Felix believed otherwise.

Eventually, Sylvain spoke up with just one question, “Where is the Professor?”

Straight away, the pieces of Dimitri’s lance fell onto the floor as the prince pushed past everyone, a dark look on his face. Claude, however, sighed loudly as he leaned against the closed doors. “She… She was attacked. Sent over the edge of a cliff. We tried to look for her but…” Claude clenched his fists, his frustration clear. “We couldn’t find her. Her _or _Rhea…”

Everything began to fall apart from there.


	8. Passing of time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix is counting the years and months since Garreg Mach fell to the Adrestian Empire.

“Felix, talk to me. What happened at Garreg Mach?”

For a brief moment, Felix stopped walking. His fists clenched, and he shook his head. “Can't you figure it out, old man? Why else would I have come home?”

“I am just asking, Felix. There is no need to be so-!”

Felix turned around to face his father, his eyes closed as he took a deep breath. “You want to know what happened? Fine. The Empire attacked Garreg Mach. They won. The Archbishop and the Professor disappeared in the aftermath. The Boar is getting more unhinged by the day. Oh, and did I mention that I was almost killed? Does that answer your question?” Felix snapped, before turning around and continuing to walk away. “I'm going to my room.”

Rodrigue frowned as he looked at Felix, then sighed. He was also going to say that he was glad that he had returned safely, but it was clear that Felix didn’t want company as he tried to get his head around all that had happened. All he could hope was that he came out of this quickly... war on the horizon was never a good thing, after all.

After he had managed to reach his room, Felix kicked his door shut behind himself, before leaning against the door and sinking to the ground.

He hadn’t shown it back at Garreg Mach, but when Claude had given the news on what had happened to the Professor, he felt that he may as well have let Hubert slice through his throat. He hadn’t realised it at that point, but he had grown dependent on her. She was a part of his daily routine. She was a constant in his life, and she had gone in an instant.

He didn’t know whether it was their teacher-student relationship, camaraderie, like-mindedness or something else entirely that made him feel so close to her, but what he knew is that he missed her. He wished she had never gone. He wished she could still be there by his side.

His vision grew hazy as he looked towards the Levin sword which he had dropped on the ground as he sank down, before he rested his hand on it.

Moments later, he felt a tear fall down his face. It was only here, where he was alone, that he could allow his emotions to flow freely.

“Professor...”

He could still remember the pleased smile on her face as she had gifted him the sword. It had only been a few weeks earlier, before war had been declared, that things had seemed so... _normal. _

Slowly he sank further down to the point that he was lying on the ground. He simply did not have the energy to move over to a chair or his bed.

Felix Hugo Fraldarius felt broken.

* * *

* * *

Five months had passed since the fall of Garreg Mach. Felix had been stuck in his family’s territory until this point, his father being particularly overzealous at keeping him nearby due to his previous arm injury.

Now, however, he found himself on the road to Fhirdiad, accompanied by his father, Ingrid, and Sylvain. They had all received a shocking piece of news which had them very quickly on the road to the kingdom's capital. Felix hadn’t wanted to go, but Rodrigue had asked him to – if not for him, for his childhood friend.

“You don’t think that His Highness would have actually killed his uncle, do you?” Ingrid asked at the point that Fhirdiad became visible over the horizon. “This does not seem right... Dimitri may have had troubles, but I couldn’t imagine him killing the only family he had left.”

Felix made a loud huff, which earned him a disappointed shake of the head from Rodrigue.

“I don’t know... But whether he did or not... Execution as a punishment? That’s... brutal,” Sylvain muttered, bringing his hand up to his head as he sighed. “We're just going to have to hope we can see him before it’s too late. Especially considering that they’ve not given any specific date. You don’t think that he could already be... you know...”

Sylvain’s words brought the group to absolute silence as they continued along the road.

As they grew closer to Fhirdiad, however, things began to get noisier. The sounds of a crowd were coming from the city. There was clear outrage and anger. It was foreboding.

Upon the entrance to the city coming into view, Felix heard rustling nearby, over the noise of the crowds. He glanced over to the nearby trees, and held his hand out ready to cast magic in the direction of the sounds.

Eventually, he began to make out the figure of a person amongst the trees. They were hunched over as they held their arm against a tree, presumably catching their breath. They seemed to have something heavy over their shoulders. Something... blue.

He took a few silent steps forward, still ready to attack if necessary, but ended up standing on a twig which snapped. The person froze, before their head quickly turned in his direction.

He almost dropped his guard when finally, he was close enough to see the person more clearly. Blonde, dishevelled hair, with blood dripping down one side of their face. A blue cloak hastily thrown over their shoulders...

“Dimitri?!”

The person took a step backwards when he called out, before they were quick to turn around and start running. Felix would have tried to pursue them, if not for his father calling for him to keep up with him and the others.

Just after the person left his line of sight, he tutted and went to rejoin his father and friends, putting it down as a figment of his imagination.

Within minutes, they had entered the gates of Fhirdiad. It was then that they realised what the uproar from the city was about. Cornelia was stood on a balcony overlooking the city from the royal palace, a sad look on her face which didn’t take much to figure out was fake.

The four people couldn’t help but feel that she was staring directly at them as she began to speak.

“People of Fhirdiad! The Kingdom of Faerghus!” she held her arms in the air, a sudden silence taking over the crowd. “It is with great sadness that I must inform you all of the passing of Prince Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd.”

Quiet whispers began to fill the air, the people in shock over the news.

Felix didn’t know how to react as he watched Ingrid cover her mouth in horror, Sylvain’s fists clench, and his father cursing under his breath about being too late.

“At sunrise this morning, for the crime of regicide, the prince was executed. As such, the Blaiddyd bloodline is no more. From herein, the Kingdom of Faerghus is no more, and shall be known as the Faerghus Dukedom, under the vassalage of the Adrestian Empire.”

“What?!” Rodrigue shouted out in horror as the crowds began to shout out their own denial of the change. “This is...”

“We were too late...” Felix muttered, before a thought came to his head. “What about Dedue? He never left the Boar's side! Did he also...”

Sylvain and Ingrid tensed up at Felix's question, and a heavy silence fell over the group.

Not long after, Felix turned around before he got angry enough to cause a scene in Fhirdiad. Sure, he hadn’t completely _liked _Dimitri, but he was still a friend. They'd basically grown up together, with how close their fathers were.

Once outside the gates of the city, he wanted to slam his fist into the stone walls, but the pain from his previous injury stopped him as he lifted his arm. Instead, he clenched his fists.

How come so many people he knew had to die? Glenn, the Professor, Dimitri, Dedue... It felt almost like something was _trying _to make him suffer.

* * *

* * *

Just under eleven months had passed since the fall of Garreg Mach.

It was Felix’s nineteenth birthday.

He had shut himself away from the world.

On multiple occasions Rodrigue had attempted to coax him out of his room, but to no avail. Upon the realisation that Felix wouldn’t be leaving unless he wanted to, letters from his friends had been slipped under the door, as well as a note saying that whenever he did emerge there would be food available in the kitchens.

Upon reading the note, Felix scoffed. He had no intention to leave at any point that day, and had prepared himself in advance with some fruits and some water. After his birthday the year before, he couldn’t face up to the day without Byleth. Her gift had been so thoughtful. Perfect, even. A sword which could use magic? Incredible.

_He didn’t know when his thoughts started referring to her by her name, and not just ‘Professor’._

He lay back on his bed, he stared out of the window opposite. He could see the snow building up on the window frame, and even that simple thing reminded him of better times. That night where he had met with Byleth at the Goddess Tower, and proceeded to spar together so that he wasn’t ratted out to Seteth for going somewhere out of bounds. It had been one of the last times he had held a sword properly… But he still remembered that moment fondly.

The thought of holding a sword made his eyes then go towards his arm. The scars from where that demonic beast had struck him were a stark contrast to his already pale enough skin. Even though his arm had healed since that day, the damage had been done. He still felt twinges of pain when he over-exerted himself with his arm, or even if he did simple things such as lie on his side. He also didn’t have full use of his arm back. Apparently it was unlikely that he ever would.

He really hated it.

People were constantly going ‘_oh, what happened?!’ _before boring him with their sympathies, remarking about how unfortunate it was and how helpless he must feel. There were times where he wanted to yell at them to shut up and walk away, but knew that he couldn’t. It was almost always some sort of important guest his father had visiting who would make those comments.

But Byleth… She didn’t demean him with false well-wishes. She taught him how to adapt. With her around, he didn’t hate it as much.

Her words from one year prior were embedded in his mind.

_Not all swords need to be swung._

He had really appreciated the sword which she had gifted him. Even if _Hubert _had played a part in her being able to get it for him… He treasured it. It was the last thing he had gotten from her, aside from a sad smile on the day of the battle where she fell. It had him reluctant to even use it, for if it would break, he would be losing one of his last reminders of her.

For now, it was carefully displayed by his window. It would be one of the first things he saw in the morning, and one of the last at night. According to Sylvain, it was a weirdly sentimental action for him to have done. All that Felix had done in response to that was telling him to ‘Fuck off’.

And speaking of wanting things to fuck off… Felix just wanted his birthday to be over with.

* * *

* * *

Two and a half years had passed since Garreg Mach fell.

Felix had gotten into an argument with his father. Rodrigue had been communicating with Gilbert as of late, and were theorising that Dimitri had survived his execution over two years prior. There were rumours – just rumours – of a beast in blue possessing the crest of Blaiddyd emerging in western Faerghus, the lands occupied by the Adrestian Empire.

He had snapped at Rodrigue, knowing full well that he too had been there the day that Dimitri’s death had been announced. There was no way that Cornelia would have let him leave Fhirdiad alive.

After the back and forth shouting grew louder and louder, Felix had enough.

“Do you have no loyalty to your king? Your friend? Your homeland?!” Rodrigue had shouted, slamming his hands down onto the dining table. All of the food and cutlery shook at the sudden action.

In response, Felix copied his actions with the arm which he could do so with. “But what does that matter when Dimitri is _dead?! _We’re on our own now, father! The Kingdom is no more!” He then gritted his teeth, and began to walk away. “I’m done with all these stupid delusions of yours that the Boar is alive! I’m leaving.”

“Leaving to go _where _exactly? Are you just going to lock yourself away in your room like you keep doing?”

“_No. _And don’t bother looking for me. I just want time to calm down and _not _have to listen to your mad ramblings.”

Rodrigue sighed loudly, before following Felix as he made his way towards his room to get a few belongings. It was when he got to the door and took hold of the handle that Rodrigue had caught up, and placed his hand on his shoulder.

“Son. Promise me you will come back safely?”

Felix hesitated for a moment, before sighing. “_Fine. _I promise. I only intended to be gone for a few days, you know.”

* * *

* * *

“How have things been here since all that crap the other year?”

“Eh, could be better. Supplies are low, and the amount of people being displaced by the Empire are growing each week. Fortunately, we happen to have a good few hunters amongst us who are bringing in enough food for everyone.”

Felix nodded as he sat down against a piece of rubble, before closing his eyes.

“You know, you’re also the only person from any noble family in Fódlan to have even come here since the war started. That is, of course, if you don’t count those who were here already when it started.”

Felix raised an eyebrow as he opened his eyes, watching as Yuri began to pace back and forth. “I wish I could help out, but my father is far too invested in looking for Dimitri, who got executed over two years ago.”

“Well, even if you can’t help out the sentiment is appreciated, Felix.” Yuri finally stopped walking back and forth, before leaning against a stone pillar. “Anyway… I can see that there is more than just getting away from your father that’s brought you here. Perhaps something to do with a certain… Professor?”

Felix almost fell off the stone then, caught by surprise at Yuri’s comment. “H- How did you-?”

“Oh, come on. You look like a love-sick puppy whenever she’s on your mind,” he grinned, watching as Felix turned his head and started grumbling under his breath. “Unfortunately… there’s been no sign of her. I’ve looked with Balthus and Hapi on many occasions, and very rarely with Constance, but there’s been absolutely nothing.”

Without even realising it, Felix’s breath got caught in his throat. He had hoped that by now, _something _would have been found of her. Even if it had to be a body.

It was only then that he realised what his father had been getting at when talking to Gilbert about the possibility of Dimitri being alive. They were clinging onto hope because there had been no body.

He had been doing the exact same with Byleth.

“Hey. Yuri. Mind if I stay here for a few days?” Felix eventually asked, closing his eyes again as he ran a hand through his hair. “I can pull my weight if any help is needed.”

“Heh, be my guest.”

* * *

* * *

Three years and nine months had passed since the fall of Garreg Mach.

Or, alternatively, little under one year until the Blue Lions reunion at Garreg Mach.

Felix still didn’t believe that he was keeping track of this. Even if he were to show up to this reunion, what would be the point? At most, there would just be six of them. Sylvain, Ingrid, Mercedes, Annette, Ashe, and himself. Perhaps, if Seteth were feeling lenient enough, Flayn would also be there. But what was the point if little under a third of them were presumed dead? It simply wouldn’t be the same without Byleth or Dedue.

And he supposed Dimitri too.

Sylvain had recently written to him talking about it. Already he and Ingrid were planning on attending whether anyone else did or not, and he wanted to know if he wanted to be included in the plans.

He just didn’t know.

It wouldn’t be a reunion without Byleth. She was the one who brought the class together. Without her…

Somehow, he had said ‘Sure’ to Sylvain’s question.

So… now he was roped up in the plans to go to Garreg Mach in a year.

It was at some point after this that he realised something else. One day after the planned reunion would also mark five years since he had been attacked by the demonic beast. It would also be five years since he had last been able to use a sword properly, and… he still couldn’t quite get his head around that fact.

He decided that he wanted to set himself a target for the time that he was to meet Ingrid and Sylvain to attend the reunion.

_He was going to wield a sword again._

And he was starting today.

In the dead of night, Felix made his way out to the training grounds of his family’s estate, and looked at the weapons available. There was a multitude of lances, but barely any swords, much to his annoyance. He believed that his father had done this intentionally, so that his current inability to use them wouldn’t get in the way of his magic training.

Eventually, he found one placed just to the side of the weapons rack. He originally picked it up with his arm which hadn’t been injured on that day, before carefully transferring it to his other hand. Before he could think to practice with the weapon, he at least needed to be able to hold onto it. That had been his weakness when he fought against Hubert three years and nine months ago. He couldn’t keep hold.

The injury, aside from the sharp jolts of pain he would feel every once in a while, had left his arm partly numb. His fingers had been the main victim to that. He could barely hold a pen, but at least he could keep that in his hand as it was small and light. A sword was another matter entirely.

Using his spare hand, he took hold of the one holding onto the sword and carefully pushed his fingers into the correct position. It felt extremely weird holding onto the sword but not actually _feeling_ it in his hands, aside from the strain it put on his arm’s muscles.

He did suppose though that this was a good start. He was holding onto the sword. Now he just had to remove his other hand… and see how things went from there.

* * *

* * *

Four years, eight months, and two weeks since Garreg Mach fell.

It was a little over one week until the Blue Lions reunion was to take place.

Felix had already packed up some of his belongings in advance, and for the first time in over four and a half years, he had removed the Levin sword from its position by his window. Even if Byleth wasn’t to be there at the reunion, he wanted something which could at the very least help him feel that her presence was there.

He re-read his most recent letter from Ingrid as he pondered on when would be best to begin his venture towards Galatea territory to meet with her and Sylvain, before making their way to Garreg Mach.

> _Felix,_
> 
> _I hope that this letter has arrived promptly and that you are well. I cannot believe that it is almost time for the reunion… Time certainly does fly. _
> 
> _You can answer this question when we meet in person, but how many people do you believe will attend? I fear that there is the possibility that Ashe may be unable to attend. I have kept in frequent contact with him, but have heard that he is under growing pressure to submit to the Empire due to his position as the adopted son of the late Lord Lonato. If the likes of Count Rowe are to be involved, which I believe he is, it may be awfully hard for Ashe to join us._
> 
> _I have heard nothing from Mercedes, but I imagine that she could possibly be with the Church of Seiros. I am aware that Annette is trying to attend, but she is also having to get through Empire controlled lands to get there. _
> 
> _If it is possible for you to arrive in Galatea territory for one week before the reunion, we can have a few days to catch up in person before making our way to Garreg Mach._
> 
> _See you then._
> 
> _Ingrid_

Felix folded up the letter, and put it away with his other belongings as he stood up. As it was little over a week until the reunion, he would likely have to leave by the end of that day to make it on time.

As much as he didn’t want to face up to his other former classmates without Byleth there, he did feel _some _excitement to see them again.

Just a little bit.

* * *

* * *

It was the day of the reunion. Just under four years, nine months since Garreg Mach fell.

The sight of the monastery almost instantly brought back fond memories for Felix and his two travelling companions. To his right, Sylvain was sat on his horse, stretching his arms out and grinning. To his left, Ingrid was hovering above the ground on her Pegasus, sadness and nostalgia on her face.

“It will be a shame that not everyone will be here today… But the more the merrier, I say,” Sylvain said, making a loud ‘ah’ noise afterwards as he took hold of the reins of his horse once more. “I wonder if the other classes decided to have a reunion in time for the Millennium Festival, or just ours.”

“If it’s only our house here, we could always ask the former Ashen Wolves to join in. They’re still settled in Abyss,” Felix stated, in turn receiving confused looks from his friends.

Ingrid eventually asked what was on hers and Sylvain’s minds. “How do you know that they’re still about, Felix? Have you been to visit them over the past few years?”

“Obviously. You two haven’t? All four of them remained here after the battle against Edelgard. I visit them when I need to get away from my old man and chip in with helping them with supplies for all the people living down there.”

“Had I known that they remained behind even whilst Garreg Mach was abandoned…” Ingrid whispered, before sighing. “I should have checked… I live closest to here out of all of us…”

Sylvain also sighed as he shrugged his shoulders. “There’s not much we can do now. Hindsight is a bitch. We can always help out knowing that they are there though now, can’t we?”

“I suppose you are…” Ingrid trailed off when she saw Felix begin to pick up the pace of his walking. Within moments, his walk had turned into a sprint, and he had pulled out his Levin sword. “Felix! Where are you going?!”

Felix stopped, and glared at the pair. “Can’t you hear it?! There’s fighting going on up ahead!”

The three continued moving in silence, picking up the pace as the sounds of fighting began to echo around their ruined surroundings. Eventually, people came into their lines of sight.

“The monastery has become a nest of thieves,” Sylvain muttered, pulling out his lance and making quick work of a thief who had suddenly jumped at the three of them. Very quickly they had been surrounded, so they made an impromptu strategy of Ingrid and Sylvain attacking the closest of their enemies with their weapons, whilst Felix focussed on removing those further away with his magic.

When they had almost cleared the enemies, a new participant entered the fight.

A long sword which extended out like a whip, with a distinct bone-like structure and red glow was quick to cut down a few of the thieves.

Ingrid gasped. “Professor! You’re alive after all!” She went to say more, but found a new thief approaching to her side, which she turned her attention to. “First things first, let’s defeat these thieves.”

Felix nodded as he sent a large blast of electricity in the direction of Ingrid’s opponent, but finding himself growing distracted by the unexpected presence. “I’ll lend a hand,” he said, before forcing himself to pay attention to the enemy. “We’ll catch up later.”

_Even though he longed to catch up now. There was so much he wanted to say. So much he wanted to ask. Five years was a long time to be gone, without any contact…_

Before anyone could act further, there was a loud shout across the battlefield. The trio from Faerghus froze when they heard it, mostly through the familiarity.

Then there was the sight of a rugged man in dark armour, scruffy blonde hair, an eye patch, and a heavy blue cloak.

_His father had been right. Dimitri truly was alive… And looked extremely similar to the panicked figure with the bleeding eye he had encountered in the woodland outside of Fhirdiad that he had long discarded as a trick of the eyes, albeit much larger, and now with an eye patch…_

_That figure had been Dimitri escaping his execution. It had to have been._

After another few minutes, the thieves surrounding the group had been defeated. Ingrid and Sylvain had quickly made their way across the battlefield to assist with the other Blue Lions who were participating in the battle, leaving Felix stood alone with Byleth a mere few metres from him.

Eventually, a choked laugh escaped Felix as he found his eyes watering. He hated his emotions so much when he felt like this. “Fancy meeting you here. A welcome surprise…” He didn’t want to acknowledge the faint tears slipping down his face.

_Stupid, stupid emotions-!_

Byleth turned to face him, a slight smile on her face. “Felix…” She was quick to close the distance between them, before biting her lip when she saw the Levin sword strapped to his back. “I… I’m so sorry that I’ve been away for so long, I can’t even begin to say how-!”

She was promptly cut off by him grabbing hold of her and wrapping his arms (only partially, in the case of one) around her back. “Don’t you _dare _do that again, Byleth…” he muttered, his fingers pressing into her back. “Do you have any idea how long it’s been? Almost five years. Five long, _painful _years.”

“Felix, I…”

Slowly he pulled himself away from her, a very thin smile on his face. “I’m so glad that you’re back.”

Next thing he knew, he found himself kissing her.

_Stupid emotions. Making him do things which he had been wanting to do ever since that night in the Goddess Tower._

Eventually they parted, a faint flush across both of their faces as Byleth took a deep breath.

“I’m glad that I’m back too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I absolutely felt it necessary to add the lines that Sylvain, Ingrid, and Felix say when they arrive on the battlefield post-timeskip... 
> 
> Oh, and there is the possibility that the rating _may_ change over the next few chapters, but I'm unsure just yet.


	9. Settling in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“You called me by my name when we reunited, Felix... It’s been a long time since I've heard somebody say it. My dad always called me ‘kid’, and I was ‘Professor' or ‘Professor Eisner' to everyone else.”_
> 
> _“I... guess that at some point when you were gone, I stopped thinking about you as a professor."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another long chapter, for my standards!!!
> 
> I'm also still debating on a rating change... There's some things I want to write, but am unsure if I should keep it as a part of this or post as separate oneshots at another point!

Neither one of Byleth and Felix had spoken about the kiss they had on the battlefield. After that moment, they had returned to the battle, intercepting the leader of the thieves with the combined forces of his magic and her sword, bringing him to a swift defeat. They did their best to avoid Dimitri as he ‘made sure' that the man had died, however.

As they went into the monastery, and met with Seteth, Flayn, and other key members of the Church of Seiros - having been brought there by Flayn for the Blue Lions reunion - the kiss still went unmentioned.

Eventually, everyone was given roles in returning the monastery to a habitable place once more, the exception being Dimitri who had stormed off to the Cathedral.

Felix thought it _awfully convenient _to find that both he and Byleth were assigned to work in the training grounds.

It was only once they were clearing away rubble and restoring the weapons to their original places that the whole situation was spoken about.

“You called me by my name when we reunited, Felix... It’s been a long time since I've heard somebody say it. My dad always called me ‘kid’, and I was ‘Professor' or ‘Professor Eisner' to everyone else,” Byleth said, breaking the silence as she tried to adjust the wood of one of the broken weapon stands into a more stable position. She stood up to look at her handiwork, just for it to collapse under the weight of an axe which Felix placed on it. The pair both sighed as she went to fix it again.

“I... guess that at some point when you were gone, I stopped thinking about you as a professor,” Felix muttered, using his foot to kick some more discarded weapons into a pile, ready to be placed on the stand.

“You... thought about me when I was missing?”

“Well, yeah. All of the other Blue Lions did, I think. I wouldn’t be able to say for the Boar or Dedue though,” he said, before quickly running over to the weapon stand to grab hold of the top of it before it fell onto her. “And I think that this is only good for firewood now.”

“Hm, I think you’re right. May as well move it to the pile of rubble for now.”

When the pair had moved the broken weapon stand away, Byleth continued the previous conversation. “And... As well as you using my name, you, uh... We...”

“Y-Yeah. We did...” Felix turned his head away as Byleth took hold of his hand from his better arm and gently wrapped her fingers around his. “I'm... I'm sorry. If you didn’t want me to do that, that is.”

Byleth gave Felix a small smile as she moved to in front of him, still keeping hold of his hand. “No, don’t apologise. I... have to confess, I liked it. But I thought that you were uncomfortable with those sorts of interactions...”

“Hand-holding... It’s hand-holding that I’m uncomfortable with...” he muttered, looking directly towards where she had hold of his hand. “Just, uh... like that.”

“Would you like me to let go?” Byleth asked, slowly beginning to pull her hand away.

“No!” Felix’s voice came out louder than he expected, tightening his grasp so that she couldn’t pull away. “I-I mean, no... Don’t let go. You’re the exception...” His eyes were completely focussed on hers then, doing his best not to pay attention to her fingers gently wrapping around his own. “Maybe it’s because I don’t want you to disappear for another five years again, but… I don’t want to let go.”

She gazed at him, sadness forming on her face at his words. “Felix… I promise, I would never intentionally disappear like that again. In all honesty, I didn’t know that five years had passed until I was woken up by a villager after washing up by a nearby river,” she explained, taking a step closer to him as she closed her eyes. “I thought it was some sort of joke until I got to Garreg Mach and saw it in ruins… Five years… I don’t understand how I could have spent five years of my life _asleep _and not knowing that Fódlan was falling to pieces around me…”

Felix was surprised when he saw that there were tears in the corners of her eyes, slipping down her face. He had only seen her cry when she showed him her father’s grave after he had been attacked by the demonic beast, so he wasn’t too sure on how to react. At best, he could give her a small squeeze of her hand.

As it turned out, that little action had been enough to overwhelm Byleth, as she began to sob quietly as she closed the distance between them and rested her head on his shoulder. “I’m scared of sleeping, in case it happens again… I don’t want to lose another five years of my life. I don’t want you… I don’t want any of my former students to think that I’ve died again…” she whispered, freeing her hand from his so that she could hold onto him. “I feel so guilty about it, even though it wasn’t something under my control… You, and most of the others have let me return to you with open arms and that is reassuring… But Dimitri just yells at me as though I am a ghost haunting him, bringing all of the guilt back…”

Felix wrapped his better arm around her, resisting the urge to ball his hand into a fist and going to have a word with the Boar Prince for upsetting her like that. “Don’t feel guilty. We thought that he was dead too – he was _apparently _executed for the murder of his uncle a few moons after you disappeared. At least you are doing something about making up for lost time…” he mumbled before sighing. “And if you are worried about sleeping, then I’ll wake you up. Every morning until you feel that you can sleep without that fear.”

She took a small step back, looking up at him with her reddened eyes as she used a hand to wipe some of her tears. “That’s sweet of you to offer, Felix… but my room will be locked. You wouldn’t be able to get in every morning. If I were to fall into another-!”

“Then we will have to compromise. Simple. I’ll stay in your room with you.” Her eyes widened at his words, before she attempted to come up with a rebuttal before he spoke again. “I have a room neighbouring the Boar. If he goes there, I would rather be as far from him as possible. That, and you aren’t a professor any longer and I’m not a student. There’s no rules stopping us from existing in the same room.”

She was stuck in a stunned silence as he spoke, his reasoning logical and blunt in a way that was very ‘Felix'. There would be a few logistical problems to deal with regarding his suggestion, namely sleeping arrangements as there was only one bed, but otherwise... she believed that it would in the end work out as beneficial to them both.

“I suppose that makes sense,” she eventually responded, her palms growing sweaty as she remained holding onto him. “But there will have to be boundaries set in place if we were to do that.”

“Obviously. We’re not animals, unlike a certain someone,” he muttered, shaking his head as he tutted. “We'll deal with that tonight. We still have to sort this place out before we meet up with the others.”

Byleth nodded as she finally stepped away from him, and wiped the last few tears from her face. “Yes, you’re right...” She then glanced around, and pointed to the one remaining weapon stand. “Let’s check that out first. If that is broken, we will just have to find somewhere else to store the weapons for now.”

The next hour was spent with the pair continuing to clean up the training grounds. Fortunately, the last weapon stand was still intact so they did their best to store as many weapons on it as possible. Then they were left with the task of cleaning up the rubble and the broken furnishings. Felix got a bit frustrated at that part when it came to the heavy lifting, so Byleth proposed that they broke anything heavy into smaller pieces for ease.

Eventually, the training grounds were mostly returned to the state it was in before the war began, and the sun was beginning to set.

“Hey... Felix, what do you say to having a quick sparring match before we regroup with the others, for old times' sake?” Byleth eventually asked as she went and picked up a sword. “I wouldn’t mind seeing how much you've developed over the five years I've been gone...”

Felix raised an eyebrow at her suggestion from the pillar he was leaned against, then smirked. “Sure,” he said, taking a few steps forward and raising his hand, the crackle of electricity between his fingers showing that he meant business. “I can’t wait to finally beat you, Byleth.”

The pair positioned themselves opposite one another, the memory of the night where they had battled after their encounter in the Goddess Tower coming back to them both. Felix had a smug look on his face, whereas Byleth straightened hers out.

“On the count of three?” she asked, her eyes already focussing on his hands and any potential movement that they could make once he began casting his magic. When he nodded, she tightened her grasp of her sword and began to count. As soon as she reached three, she had to jump to the side as he had sent a thoron blast in her direction the moment that the number had passed her lips.

Constantly, she kept an eye on his movements and his hands. Obviously, one of his arms were weaker and he couldn’t do too much with it, and it was a weakness… but she didn’t want to exploit that. She would focus on tiring out his other arm so that she could get an advantage instead.

What surprised her though was his strategy. Every time that she got close to him, he would run elsewhere, leading her on a chase around the battlefield… She couldn’t help but smile at that.

“So, when did you change your mind about running around the battlefield being for ‘cowards’?” she laughed after another failed attempt at getting him with her sword. She had to then duck down as more electricity went in her direction.

Felix let out an amused noise. “I had a great professor who taught me that lesson, followed by a life-changing experience the next day where if I had done as she had taught me, I would still be able to use a sword properly,” he explained, watching as she frowned at his words as she adjusted her grasp of her sword. He supposed that would be expected – for him, it was five years ago to the day that the injury had occurred. For her, it was a mere three moons, and was still fresh in her memory. “But I have to say, it works out well for me when using magic. It’s better to use it at a distance, and running gives me the opportunity to do just that.”

Byleth watched as he sent another attack in her direction, which managed to land a hit on her shoulder. She dropped her sword as her arm was shocked and began to twitch. He had made sure that the strength of the attack was not enough to cause any permanent damage, so she was relieved at that… However, she was not relieved when he walked over to her, and used his good hand to take her dagger out of its sheath.

“Now, if I were an enemy… I would have taken that opportunity of distraction to just…” he moved the dagger over to her throat. “Kill you. Luckily, this was just a sparring session,” he smirked, a light in his eyes that Byleth had not seen since the day she had given him his Levin sword, and before that, the day they fought during the Ethereal Moon ball. “I finally beat you, Byleth.”

She nodded, before reaching up and reclaiming her dagger. “Yes, you did…” she whispered, a faint smile forming on her face. “I knew I was right to believe that you had a hidden talent in magic.”

“I’ve had five years to practice. And, uh… I may have had a few lessons from Sylvain during that time too. He may use fire magic instead of electricity, but he gave me a few tips. Even managed to help me out with learning some faith magic too… Only basic healing and the nosferatu spell though,” he said, moving his hand to her shocked arm and healing it in demonstration. “It’s annoying that I can’t do anything for my arm with it though, but I’ve grown to accept that now.”

Before Byleth could respond, the doors to the training grounds opened, and Seteth emerged.

“There you two are, have you finished with your task yet? Everyone else has assembled in the dining hall, and we are waiting on you both. And Dimitri, but I believe that he will not attend…”

“Yes, we are just finishing up, Seteth,” Byleth said, reaching down to pick up her sword. “We were checking that the weapons which were left behind were in a state suitable for use, and just finished with this sword.”

Seteth raised his eyebrow in suspicion, considering that the pair had been mere inches away from one another when he arrived, and that the sword had been abandoned at least a few minutes earlier. Whether they had been doing as she said or not, he nodded. “Please be quick if possible – we have limited rations, and the four from Abyss as well as a few further former students have decided to join us.”

Byleth’s eyes widened then, and she took a few steps past Felix, who was now wondering who Seteth could be talking about.

“Other former students? Who?”

“Ferdinand, Dorothea, and Leonie.”

A smile formed on her face. Those three had transferred into the Blue Lions not long before the war had started, after the incident where her hair and eyes had changed colour. She was glad that they had joined them too.

“Let me put this sword away, and we will join you.”

* * *

* * *

As the night’s celebrations of the reunion of the Blue Lions and the return of Byleth drew to a close, Felix had decided to leave a few minutes before Byleth. She was being kept there until the end by the clingiest (and most drunk) of the group, and he would rather not hang around as things would inevitably grow louder but more emotional as more drinks were had.

He sat down on the steps outside her room, and looked around. It was strange seeing all sorts of damage to the walls of the monastery, as well as moss and ivy crawling up the walls much more than they had been when he was a student. How everyone managed to turn the monastery into a place somewhat habitable in an afternoon was beyond him. He guessed that it helped that they had separated into groups, with only a portion of the former dorm rooms in use, as well as quite a few knights of Seiros chipping in…

Another thought he had was whether Byleth’s room had been untouched in the years it had been vacant. The door was still securely locked, so he presumed it had been left alone. Unlike hers though, he had become aware that his old room had been broken into, as the lock had been removed from the door and the valuables left behind such as weapons and stray pieces of gold had disappeared.

After about twenty minutes, the bells of Garreg Mach tolled for the first time in years. It was midnight, and fortunately, everyone was to regroup during the late morning of the next day and not early on. Felix never quite realised how much he had grown used to hearing the bells upon returning to Fraldarius territory, but now he was going to have to grow used to hearing them once again.

A few minutes later, Byleth arrived, the sound of her shoes against the stone catching his attention before her physical presence did. She gave a small wave from a distance towards him, her pace picking up as she approached him. “I hope that you haven’t been waiting long – Sylvain and Yuri were trying to keep me in the dining hall for as long as they could.”

“Not too long,” he responded, standing up and stretching his better arm out as he turned to face her. “I’m definitely ready to sleep though, today has been…”

“Busy?”

“Yeah. Definitely…”

Byleth nodded, before walking over to the door and pulling her keys out. “So… We’re going to set some rules if we are going to be sharing my room for the time being,” she began, turning her key in the lock and pushing the door open. He followed her inside afterwards, and she then proceeded to lock the door behind them. The room was just as Felix expected – completely untouched. “Do you have any proposals?”

Quickly, Byleth placed the keys on the desk, before shrugging off her coat and hanging it on the chair by the desk, and kicking off her boots. She then sat down on the bed, and gave him a serious look.

“Well, it is your room, so you obviously should sleep in the bed. I’m just here to make sure that you wake up every day,” Felix stated, sitting down on the chair with her coat. “I’ll be fine with the floor as long as there are blankets for me to use.”

Byleth frowned. “That wouldn’t be comfortable for you though.”

“I’m fine with that. As I said, just a spare blanket is good enough.”

Though she was hesitant, Byleth agreed to his idea. She then got off the bed and crouched down on the floor, and pulled a box out from under the bed. “All of the spare sheets are here. I think there may be a pillow too, if you need one.”

Felix nodded, watching as she returned to her position on the bed.

“I also have one thing. There will obviously be some… privacy issues in sharing the room. I’m mostly thinking of when we need to do things such as changing clothes,” she stated, him giving his agreement with the concern. “We should do something such as warning the other when this is going to happen, so that the other can either leave for a few minutes or cover their eyes or… something.”

“Agreed. I’d rather not unintentionally see you naked, and I can imagine that you feel the same.”

“Then that is settled too. I can’t think of anything else at present, but tell me if you have any further suggestions,” she said, stretching her arms as she let out a yawn. “And speaking of that… I want to change into my nightwear.”

Felix pulled himself up of the chair, and nodded. He grabbed the keys to unlock the door, before pausing. “Knock on the door when you’re finished… I’ll come back in then.” He then proceeded to go and wait outside, leaning against the closed door.

As he waited for her, he sighed quietly. It hardly felt as though Byleth had been missing for close to five years now that she was back again. It was almost as though they had clicked instantly, and everything felt _right _again. He felt as though the impromptu kiss he had given her on the battlefield that morning had been a big part of that feeling too…

He knew that he had feelings towards Byleth, but would never openly confess them - not with the likes of Sylvain around. If he were to be spending a lot of his time with her though, he couldn’t help but think if that would change soon. What’s more… he was unsure if his feelings were reciprocated.

Sure, he had always been her ‘favourite’ student (not including Dimitri), and had been awfully close to him following on from him receiving his injury… But she was still very hard to read.

Even though she said that she liked the kiss, he was unsure if she was saying that because the surprise of meeting again all this time later had made them act impulsive.

He was very much… unsure.

Before he could listen to his doubts further, he heard a knock at the door. He could go back inside the room now.

When he re-entered, he noticed that Byleth had done a slight bit of rearranging as well as putting on a nightgown. On the floor was the pillow and blankets which she had pulled out earlier, set out for him to sleep on.

“I… want to thank you again, Felix… Of anyone, I can trust you the most to make sure that I actually wake up in the morning,” she whispered, taking hold of his wrists and giving him a tired smile. “Do, um… you need to change your clothes or anything?”

“I’ll probably just take off everything but my trousers. I don’t know if you want to leave because I’m not taking off all my clothes, but that’s up to you.”

She nodded, and walked over to the bed. “I’ll lie down and face the wall then. Just say when you’re finished… If you want to go to sleep after, just say.” Felix then watched as she pulled her blankets aside, and crawled in under them. As she said, she turned to face the wall to give him some privacy.

He smiled slightly as he went and took off all that he was wearing on the top half of his body, and folded them and put them aside. That was followed by him sitting down on the blankets, and telling her that he was done.

Byleth turned over in the bed, and looked at him for a moment. He then realised that in particular, she was focussing on the scars across his arm.

“Does it hurt still?” she eventually asked, concern evident in her eyes.

He frowned, but nodded. “Yeah. Mostly when I use it too much or put too much pressure on it. It’s okay right now. I don’t have too much use of it either, and my hand is partially numb. I’m used to it by this point, but I do what I can to keep its strength up. Stretches and such,” he explained, holding it up slightly. “Back at home, I would constantly have people assume that I was helpless because of it, forgetting that I have another completely functional arm.”

Byleth looked disheartened as she heard him speak, but listened on anyway. He could see that even now, she was bearing the guilt of what had happened to him even though he didn’t blame her whatsoever.

“Don’t worry about it, Byleth. Honestly, it’s fine,” he reassured, now lying down on the blankets and closing his eyes. “We can talk more tomorrow, if you want.”

“If you wouldn’t mind…”

After that, the room fell into silence. As much as both of them wanted to sleep, neither of them could. Byleth still had the fear of being unable to wake up in the back of her mind, whereas Felix wanted to make sure that she fell asleep before he did.

At one point, Byleth turned to lie on her back, and closed her eyes in an attempt to let sleep take over her body. Felix noticed this, which he felt somewhat relieved by. As such, he turned to lie on his side.

He had forgotten that he was not lying in a bed, and was on the hard floor. He had ended up lying on his bad arm, which resulted in him hissing in pain and cursing under his breath as he returned to lying on his back. He held onto his arm, unaware that she had heard him.

Byleth sat up, and frowned as she looked at him. “Felix… Please, don’t lie on the floor. I am fine with sleeping there. Take the bed.”

He sighed, and shook his head. “No, it’s yours.”

“I insist that you take the bed,” she pleaded, before taking a deep breath. “That, or we share it. I will not let you sleep on the floor if you are going to keep hurting your arm for my sake.”

Reluctantly, he took up her second proposal of sharing the bed. He didn’t want her on the floor, and she didn’t want him there either. It was the only way that they would be able to compromise.

Once he lay down beside her, facing in her direction, Byleth pulled the blankets over them both as she sighed quietly. Her hand moved after that to take hold of his weakened one. He could barely feel her touch, and couldn’t completely reciprocate the way in which her fingers went between his, but he realised that it seemed to help her in settling down.

“Is this okay with you, Felix? The bed, I mean – not the two of us sharing it.”

“It’s more comfortable than the floor, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Yes, it is… And that’s good. I’m glad…” Once she finished speaking, he was caught by surprise at the feeling of her huddling up against him, still keeping hold of his hand. “Good night…”

“Y-Yeah, good night…”

Even once Byleth fell asleep… Felix already knew that sleep would be evading him that night.


	10. Waking up once more

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Byleth woke up to the sound of knocking at her door. She could hear quiet bickering outside, which made her sigh. It was as though nothing had changed at all... Yet everything had. The person lying beside her was more than enough proof of that._

Byleth woke up to the sound of knocking at her door. She could hear quiet bickering outside, which made her sigh. It was as though nothing had changed at all... Yet everything had. The person lying beside her was more than enough proof of that.

She then bit her lip – whoever was outside her door would likely have something to say about Felix being asleep in her room, _in her bed. _Nothing had happened between them, but even so... It was fuel for rumours and speculation.

Once more, there was another knock, though this time it was accompanied by a voice.

“Professor? Are you in there? Ingrid and I need to talk to you about something.”

_Sylvain._

Now, for all that Byleth knew, Sylvain could have changed a lot in the almost five years she had been absent, though it being him outside the door made this entire situation even more precarious.

She slipped out of the bed, made her way over to the door, cracked it open slightly, and responded. “Give me a few minutes, Sylvain... You woke me up, and I would rather not talk to you in my sleepwear.” She then promptly shut the door, and huffed as she walked over to where her clothes were stored, hoping that they were still intact after all the time she hadn’t been in Garreg Mach.

Even more frustratingly, she found that bugs had discovered her clothes. Five years of abandonment hadn’t gone down well at all. As such, she grabbed her clothes from the day before which still felt damp after having woke up in a stream, and quickly pulled them on.

She then made her way over to the door, and slipped out of the room with a frown, making sure that neither one of Sylvain or Ingrid could see the still sleeping Felix through the gap in the door as she left.

“Sorry for taking my time there, as it turns out, not wearing clothes for five years is... not good,” she explained, before smiling at the pair. “What is it that you need?”

“We... We are worried, Professor. About Dimitri and Felix... His highness spent the entire night in the cathedral, surrounded by corpses of Empire soldiers. He lashed out at Mercedes and Seteth when they went to investigate the state of the building. And Felix... We don’t know where he is. It looks like his room was unused, and we can’t find him in his usual places, and nobody else has seen him today,” Ingrid explained, whilst Byleth frowned. She had seen how unhinged Dimitri had been the day before, and what she had just been told was a sign that he had certainly changed from the polite, mild-mannered prince that she knew five years earlier. As for their concerns about Felix... She could easily deal with that, but at the same time...

Finally, an idea came to her head. “I honestly don’t know about what to do with Dimitri, but Felix mentioned yesterday that he went to Abyss a few times over recent years... Could he be there? I can always double check places like the training grounds whilst you look there,” she stated, before walking over towards the edge of the dormitories beside her room. “There’s a shortcut to Abyss that way, unless Yuri asked for it to be sealed up...”

“Thank you, Professor,” Ingrid said as she nodded at her, before gesturing for Sylvain to follow her. “Please let us know if you find Felix in the meantime.”

Once the pair were out of sight, Byleth let out a deep breath that she didn’t realise she was holding, before returning to her room quickly. She was expecting to have to try and wake Felix up, but much to her relief, he was sat up and rubbing his eyes as he yawned on her bed.

“I see you-“ he paused as he yawned once again, ”-managed to wake yourself up, Byleth.” He stood up, then stretched out his good arm.

She shook her head as she looked at him with a frown. “No, I was woken up by Sylvain hammering on my door with Ingrid, as they were worried that they couldn’t find you. And… I imagined that you wouldn’t appreciate the teasing if it were found out that you stayed in here last night.”

Felix looked up at where she was stood, before nodding. “… Thanks.”

The two remained silent after that, the only noises being the creak of the bed as Felix moved to reclaim his clothes. She turned around as he put them on, before biting her lip.

They both seriously needed to talk. About… _everything. _The room sharing agreement, the sharing of the bed, the kiss, what was going on between them… And no doubt a lot more.

What surprised her was that after he had finished getting changed, he took hold of her wrist and turned her around. His bad arm was lifted, and he brought it to rest on her shoulder. “And… Thank you for waking up. It… It means a lot.”

Before she had a chance to react, his lips were on hers again.

“I love you, Byleth.”

_And her questions were answered._

* * *

* * *

“No luck in Abyss either… Where could Felix have gone?” Sylvain sighed loudly as he and Ingrid left Abyss from the way in which they arrived, after an unsuccessful hunt for their friend. “You don’t think that he could have gone to… you know… where His Highness is? To confront him? I remember that he had a pretty disgusted look on his face when he saw Dimitri yesterday…”

Ingrid sighed, and stared at Sylvain from the corner of her eyes. “Let’s… not consider that for now,” she stated, taking a few steps forward so that she was out in the open near to the sauna steps and the side of the dormitories. “Perhaps the Professor has had more luck than us? Her room is right here, so it could be worthwhile checking in with her.”

The pair made their way up the stairs leading up to Byleth’s door, just as it creaked open. Sylvain and Ingrid were caught by surprise as they saw their former teacher stood there with a light dusting of pink across her face, holding onto a completely flustered Felix’s hand.

“P… Professor? Felix…? What’s, uh… What’s going on here?”


End file.
